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To 0 I s of th e BROTH ER PACESETTE R ULT2001 If a high-end embroidery/sewing machine is in your future, check out Brother's Pacesetter ULT2001. From the first threading, I was caught with its ease of operation and stitch quality. The machine has all of the top-of-the-line automatic and pushbutton features, including an eight-direction, straight stitch and instant threading. The large, angled LCD touch screen dis- plays guidelines for maintenance; threading; stitch length, width and tension; and troubleshooting. A separate motor winds multiple bobbins while the machine is actively sewing an embroidery project. It includes six snap-on presser feet; a buttonhole foot for the 14 built-in buttonholes, and a walking foot. The "character stitch" menu offers dec- Tra d eCCOOOO",dl orative stitches, cross-stitches, character patterns, and three alphabets. The screen shows what options can be used to alter or combine stitches, including both vertical and horizontal mirror-imaging, reducing or enlarging, continuously repeating or stringing together several single motifs, and repeating them as a unit. For example, you can select a "step-stitch" effect from any of 20 different satin-stitch patterns, and create designs of unlimited width for borders. Then fill one of the 20 memory "pockets" with your own stitch combinations for future use. Once in embroidery mode, you can ed- it embroidery designs by changing the size of characters, 90-degree rotating, mirror-imaging, and adding multiple designs. Plus, you now have 11 additional fonts to choose from. Embroidery is kept simple, yet versatile as the touch screen directs the trace func- tion, arrow-placement buttons, stitchcount feature, sewing time, and a detailed color sequence for re-threading when the machine automatically stops for a color change. The original designs are beautiful, but you can personalize them with your own color combinations and preview the change on the touch screen before you sew it out. The Brother Pacesetter ULT2001 sells for $4,999. For the Brother dealer nearest you, call 800-4-A-BROTHER or visit them on the Web at www.brother.com. Patricia Curtis reviews embroidery machines in Osborn, Mo. NOTIONS Hugo's Amazing Tape is a reusable, self-clinging, thick, glueless tape that works much like the much thinner, clear plastic kitchen wrap that sticks to itself. Use this waterproof tape to wrap around thread spools to keep them from unraveling; bundle fabrics or yarn; organize electrical wires; hold mail stacks, tools, or books-or even to hold a book open. And every strip you cut is reusable. Hugo's Amazing Tape The number of uses for this tape is, indeed, amazing, and there's no gummy stiCky residue. Hugo's Amazing Tape is $7 for a I-in. by 50-ft. roll, available from 5720 E. Union Pacific Ave., Commerce, CA 90022; 323-727-1231; creativeshow.com Sure, I wear glasses, but that doesn't mean I can see! Every year it seems that needle / 78 THREADS www amazingtape.htm. eyes are getting smaller and my fine Magni-Specs .get- hand sewing more remote, because the closer I get to my work, the more blurred it looks. Recently I tried Magni-Specs, and I now see the world in a different way. First, they're worn like a pair of regular glasses, but they don't have lenses, per se. The flipdown magnifying glass does the work and adjusts to the angle of your sewing and vision. You can wear Magni-Specs over your regular glasses. I liked being able to flip the magnifying glass out of the way, or to see around, above, or below it. The tilting glass also enables you to look up and magnify. Magni-Specs come in a handsome faux snake-skin case and sell for $35.70. Call 800-233-8803 for a distributor. -Judy Neukam